Joanne Webster nominated for Innovator of the Year Award

10 May 2018

Professor Joanne Webster and her research team at the Royal Veterinary College have been nominated for a prestigious BBSRC Innovator of the Year award Joanne's Zoonotic disease research to improve human and animal health in West Africa has been nominated in the award International Impact category.

Celebrating its 10th year, the Innovator of the Year award recognises and rewards individuals and small teams who have harnessed the potential of their excellent research.

The competition has four award categories:

Commercial Impact

Social Impact

International Impact

Early Career Impact

It is designed to recognise the full breadth of impacts that BBSRC investments in research have, from creation of spinout companies or social enterprises, to working in collaboration with business and NGOs, to working with policy makers, both in the UK and abroad.

The RVC team's nomination focuses on their work on zoonotic schistosomiasis, in particular, of providing PZQ treatment trials for infected livestock in areas of high morbidity in sub-Saharan Africa. The challenge that this research is seeking to overcome is how best to provide veterinary treatment trials that are simultaneously – accessible, affordable and most importantly use the correct dosage veterinary formula.

An estimate 750 million people are at risk of infection from schistosomiasis with over 90% of these living in sub Saharan Africa. Schistosomiasis also infects millions of livestock worldwide with both domestic and wild animals serving as zoonotic reservoir hosts. The research undertaken by Prof Webster and her colleagues will contributes to the major push to control and eliminate schistosomiasis as a public health problem as set out by in 2012 by the WHO NTD roadmap and the London Declaration.

The awards will be announced at a special ceremony in London on 16th May. Good luck Joanne.